Jenna+Isabella+Final+Portfolio+Letter+to+the+Reader

Dear Reader,

 Over the course of this semester I have learned about the study of language, the way language is acquired, the different modes of language and the ways in which people use language to convey meaning. In addition to learning about language, and probably most importantly this class afforded me the opportunity to reflect on my own experience with language acquisition, the ways in which I use language and my journey through a literate life. These reflections have helped to inform the ways in which I will approach my students as they enter my classroom. I have begun to think of these students as a compilation of complex events and histories—remembering that all students have unique backgrounds and therefore unique interactions with literacy.  The three essential questions of this class have directed my learning by consistently referring back to the students I will and have already encountered in the classroom. These questions also led me to reflect on my own experience first so that I might have a better way to relate to my students. The three questions around which this course reflects are:  1. How does students’ language development affect their learning?  2. How can we bridge the gap between home and school literacies?  3. How are social identity, power, and academic literacy related?  As a student, I always took my education very seriously and a large part of my identity was defined by my status as a student. However, it was not the only “persona” with which I identified. I thought of myself as a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a friend, a Catholic, a pet owner, a Girl Scout, a dancer, a musician, an actress, and a swimmer. Each of these personas brought with them their own mode of discourse as well as their own culture. In the same way every student that I will ever have the responsibility to teach will enter my classroom with a list of personas with which they identify. Each of these personas will also be accompanied by a mode of discourse that may not be in alignment with the rules of standard American English. As a teacher I have to reflect on ways in which to bridge the gap between the literacies of home and school once the primary and secondary discourses have been identified. When students not only accept their many different discourses, but embrace them, then they take true authority over their literacy. Authors who employ various discourses in their writing and who are highly esteemed are evidence of this fact. People who embrace the sometimes conflicting modes of language that are part of the fabric of our human lives have a certain power and agency in their writing. It is tragic, however, that so much is implied by the way in which people speak. Often judgment is passed based on one’s ability to use standard English, and not by the ideas that are presented.  Simply by acknowledging the differences in spoken and written English people can begin to understand that “different vernacular” is not an indicator of “lesser intelligence”. I have had to face some of my own misguided preconceptions in this class as well. I am ashamed to say that whenever I heard someone speaking in a discourse or dialect other than standard English my mind instantly went to the phrases: “uneducated” or “lazy”. This is so unfair because I did not think about the culture and history of the languages I was hearing. For example, in Ebonics the phrase: “I be dancing” means: I am and always will be dancing. The verb: “to be” is known as the “habitual be” here—it implies that throughout time this statement is true. Therefore, it is not simply that the person who speaks this sentence is uneducated—that thought itself is uneducated. Rather, this discourse has a different meaning than the standard English that I knew and spoke as my primary discourse. The meaning that standard English assigns to words and combinations of words is not the only meaning that can be assigned to those words. If humans created a “standard” and other humans created another version of the standard that does not make that version less valid. Neither are assigned divinely, both are the work of humans—imperfect beings attempting to create one singular “perfect” language. Of everything I have learned in this class I am most grateful that I learned this.  My point of view has changed drastically from the one I held in September 2013. And, Reader, I thank you for bearing with me in this reflection. I realize that much of this was a stream of conscious on my part, largely because my reflections led me to many ideas and conclusions. I hope the following reflections and presentations will help you better understand this initial reflection.

 Most Sincerely,  Jenna